Grace Lace Beret

I love a slouchy beret. It’s the perfect thing to cover up my (many) bad hair days and still look stylish, but I can rarely bring myself to buy one. The details are never quite right–the ribbing doesn’t flow into the lace pattern, or the crown decreases seem careless–and I, as a knitter, know it can be done better.

Elizabeth wearing her Grace Lace Beret

The Grace Lace Beret has all of the right details. The cast on is a modified and simplified tubular cast on, and the simple lace pattern flows evenly from ribbing to crown decreases. The yarn, Louisa Harding Grace, is one of my favorites. The 50/50 wool/silk blend has a beautiful halo and just the right amount of drape. It feels delicate, but wears incredibly well, and is–of course–soft as silk. This season Harding introduced Grace in beautiful hand-dyed colors, too. The Grace Lace Beret works up super-fast, which makes it perfect for last-minute holiday gifts.

With crochet hook and waste yarn, chain 65 stitches. With working yarn, and US4 needles, pick up 60 stitches from back of crochet chains. Distribute stitches evenly over dpn’s and join in the round, being careful not to twist.

UPDATE: We no longer carry Louisa Harding Grace and Hand-Dyed Grace yarn. The Grace Lace Beret can be knit with any DK weight yarn that gives you 5.5 stitches per inch in stockinette. I think Filatura di Crosa Zara yarn would be a great choice.

Okay, I have cast on three times now, and every time I complete my first round I come up about 4 stitches short, sometimes more sometimes less. I do the crochet, have 60, then make 120 out of the 60 and create my band. Then I start the pattern and voila I am short. HELP! I am sure it is 120 stitches that I need to end up with, or have I missed something?

[…] It sort of reminds me of a bleached sea urchin.I found another pattern that I liked too. It is the Grace Lace Beret, I knit this olive green one with Knitpicks Shine Sport Leapfrog. I am not sure I knit the […]

As soon as I pulled out the crochet chain from the cast on (and I did it gently so I didnt stretch it out), the whole band just expanded and lost its shape. The band is huge and when I put it on, it looks like I have just put a large sack on my head. No shape, no drape. Going to have FROG this one as I dont think it can be saved by blocking. The band is about 5 inches too large for my head. I did a guage swatch and started with 60 stiches and increased to 120 for the band just like the pattern indicated. Very disappointed. =(

have just looked at this pattern and read comments. figured out that last row of crown decreases (row 8) is the same as row 7 ie *ki,dd repeat but will end up with 10 stitches, not 15 which makes sense cause all the other rows have gone down in even numbers. that is the way i will do it anyway if i make the hat. just need to look at youtube for cast on cause also thought would end up with live stitches after removing waste yarn, if a prob will cast on usual way.

I’m a new knitter, and I’m confused about the beginning of the pattern after you chain 65 stitches. How are you supposed to pick up 60 stitches when you have 65 on the chain? Do you only pick up the first 60 and leave the other 5 alone? There’s probably an obvious answer, but I’m so confused!

I am German, so it’s not that easy for me to read and understand the instruction.
I really want to knit this delicious hat. But I have tweo questions.
Can I do a normal cast on? If yes, do I have to cast on 60 stiches an increase, so that I have 120 and then starting with K1P1?

I pulled off the waste yarn this week in my knitting class with my knitting teacher and the beret became a doily. There is no way this would stay on my head. My teacher suggests that I pull apart the hat and start again and I’ve gotten a good way into the lace section. The ribbing done your way does not maintain any shape. I would appreciate any guidance you could give. I have pictures if you want to see but my teacher agrees that I’ve done everything correctly so far.

Hi Susan, I’m sorry you’re having trouble with your hat. I’m unsure why it didn’t work, however, I’ve seen this hat knit dozens of times, so I know that pattern is correct. If you don’t want to start over, maybe you can pull out the ribbing, pick up stitches, and re-knit the band with a smaller needle. Or, you could start again, skip the provisional cast on, and go right into the ribbing. Good luck!

Hello! I want to print your Grace Lace Beret but I DO NOT WANT TO PRINT ALL THE COMMENTS. HOW CAN I DO THAT? I like reading all the comments but not print. Hopefully you will answer me soon. Thank you!